I hope you are all excited about The Shiny Squirrel Pop-Up Shop I’ll be co-hosting at Stel’s. The opening party is Dec. 10th 6-8pm, but Stel’s will be holding on to the goods through the holidays. We have an amazing list of vendors on board and Jessica and I wanted to do a series of features highlighting them. First up, we’ve got Joe Gannon and Max Wastler of Buckshot Sonny’s with some clutch holiday gifts. Their shop is gender neutral, but I have a strong feeling that the ladies out there would get mega brownie points for picking up any (or all!) Buckshot goods for the men in their life.

Q. For anyone who has met the two of you, they know you guys are two peas in a pod. How did you guys meet?

A. We met through mutual friends at a fundraiser in New York. We got to talking, hit it off, and the next thing you know, we’re visiting different parts of the country to learn more about the great craftspeople keeping alive our country’s manufacturing efforts.

Q. What inspired you to start a shop together?

A. After happening upon a treasure trove of deadstock sporting goods in Nashville, and after realizing our struggle to find sporting goods that didn’t look like they’d come from a NASA space lab, we thought we’d utilize some of the knowledge we’d acquired in our hunt for quality. We’ve put together a small selection of things we love, things we think will hold up well enough that you’ll want to pass them onto your kids and their kids.

Q. The Buckshot Sonny’s shop is a perfectly edited selection. How did you decide on those specific brands and products?

A. Truly, trial and error. It will always be that way. 90% of the boots Leon Leonwood Bean first put out were returned. While we don’t aspire to that, we understand — and we expect our customers to understand — that if it doesn’t hold up to our standards of quality and ethic, we won’t sell it.

Q. You only launched this September, and are already off to a great start. What do you foresee in the next year for Buckshot?

A. First, thanks for the kind words. We’re in the thick of it right now with holiday sales. In the next year, we’d like to expand our product offerings, particularly with summer approaching. Look for things to wear in and around the water, on the trail, and at the barbecue.